In the End, Spurs Had Nothing Left

There’s simply no margin for error, no opportunity to pause and admire your handiwork if you’re wearing a San Antonio Spur uniform. The Lakers won’t allow it.

For the second consecutive fourth quarter, the Spurs hesitated ever so slightly in crunch time and the Lakers hammered them with both fists.

The Spurs survived it once, holding off the Lakers in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series Tuesday at Staples Center. They paid a hefty price in a 99-89 loss Friday in Game 3 at the Alamodome.

In the two fourth quarters, the Spurs have been outscored, 45-33. That’s no way to win a playoff series against the two-time champions.

“We could have done things better tonight,” said Danny Ferry, San Antonio reserve forward. “Small mistakes cost us.”

No question, the Spurs matched baskets, rebounds, elbows, shoves and floor burns with the Lakers for the better part of 40 minutes. But by game’s end, the Spurs were left to explain why they faltered and the Lakers surged, taking a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon at the Alamodome.

Above all else, the Spurs failed to keep pace when it counted most.

Bruce Bowen, San Antonio’s defensive stopper, tailed Kobe Bryant all around the court, but Bryant still swished shots over him, making all five of his attempts en route to 11 points in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Spur center David Robinson, playing his first game of the series after missing the first two because of a sore back, seemed to be draped on Shaquille O’Neal’s back, leaving it up to others to lead the Lakers. And so they did.

At the other end, the Spurs went stagnant, settling for perimeter jump shots. The Lakers ran when the opportunity was there; the Spurs walked the ball into the frontcourt again and again.

“They were more aggressive,” Ferry said. “In the last game, we were the more aggressive team overall. We weren’t quite there tonight. Our margin for error is not huge. We have to be solid as heck.”

No one better epitomized the Spurs’ slow fade than guard Tony Parker, who was brilliant in the first half and out of sight and out of mind in the second. Parker had 20 points in the first half and looked like an All-Star. In the second, he went, “poof.”

“I think in the first [half], I was getting a lot of good looks at the basket because I was getting a lot of pick and rolls,” said Parker, who had 24 points on nine-of-17 shooting.

“In the second half, we changed things up to get Timmy [Duncan] and David [Robinson] some looks. We really wanted to get something going inside in the second.”

Didn’t work.

Duncan led the Spurs with 28 points, but made only nine of 26 shots.

Robinson gave the Spurs’ fans an emotional charge, sending them into a tizzy when he took the floor to start the game. But his contributions were limited to six points, seven rebounds and the aforementioned standout fourth-quarter defense against O’Neal in 22 minutes.

After the game, Robinson began an analysis of the Spurs’ late-game offensive woes. He said they weren’t moving the way they had in the first three quarters, standing on the perimeter instead of setting picks and cutting toward the basket.

“We’ve got to get more [movement],” Robinson said. “Sometimes we can get a little stagnant.... For us, the issue is making things happen on the court. When you get easy baskets and get them in transition, which we haven’t gotten very many of in this series.... If you get some of that stuff, it makes the game easier. You want to make the game easier.”

The Spurs have until Sunday to get it right.